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State Property “Roc The Mic” (2002)

Album: State Property SoundtrackLabel: Roc-A-Fella / Def JamJust Blaze: “We were all living in Miami at the time. Me, all of State Property, and Guru got it in for a long time. Freeway and I were cool. He was just the new kid that was hanging around, but I liked him. He had a humble air about him, unlike some of the other guys. I used to bump heads with Sparks a lot, because he felt that he was entitled to beats from me. That's how he used to approach it.

Freeway and I were cool. He was just the new kid that was hanging around, but I liked him. He had a humble air about him, unlike some of the other guys.

“There was always some kind of drama. Freeway was humble, quiet and cool about it. He had a big verse out on '1-900-Hustla' verse. So, it was interesting to me that he was very humble in the way he moved.

“So it was like six in the morning. He walks in, like, 'Yo, do you think that I could get a beat some time?' I had the chops for 'Rock The Mic,' and the sounds that I was using in the ASRX at the time. That's what I was using for a short period of time.

“So I was like, 'Ah, alright. Fine. Here, hold that.' I made that beat in five minutes, gave it to him and left. I didn't think anything of it. I got back to the studio by 11am, and he had the whole thing done by himself.

There was originally a 'Roc The Mic (Remix)' that I don't think ever came out. It was a remix with everybody from State Property and Hov. They all had eight bar verses, and then Jay dropped a sixteen at the end. I completely forgot that it existed, and I came across it when I was shutting down Baseline.

“I went downstairs to the people, and everybody was up early at the pool blasting it. I was like, 'This is crazy.' Beans was like, 'Yeah, as a matter of fact, I'm getting on this.' I think Sparks might have been on 'Roc The Mic' originally.

“There was a bunch of records that he got knocked off of. There was originally a 'Roc The Mic (Remix)' that I don't think ever came out. It was a remix with everybody from State Property and Hov. They all had eight bar verses, and then Jay dropped a sixteen at the end. I completely forgot that it existed, and I came across it when I was shutting down Baseline.

“I don't know why that never came out. We did it, and then it sat for a few months. Eventually we put it out, and that was that. It did what it was going to do.

“You get that hot moment, and that was certainly mine. It wasn't like I didn't develop relationships, but it was at the point where all of a sudden I was super hot. There's a new kid on the block who's in a video every five minutes, and every producer that hits a certain stride hits that.”